(a) The board of pharmacy may refuse to issue or renew, or may suspend, revoke, or restrict the licenses of, or fine any person pursuant to the procedures set forth in this Code section, upon one or more of the following grounds:

(1) Unprofessional conduct as that term is defined by the rules of the board;

(2) Incapacity that prevents a licensee from engaging in the practice of pharmacy with reasonable skill, competence, and safety to the public;

(3) Being guilty of one or more of the following:

(A) A felony;

(B) Any act involving moral turpitude; or

(C) Violations of the pharmacy or drug laws of this state, or rules and regulations pertaining thereto, or of laws, rules, and regulations of any other state, or of the federal government;

(4) Misrepresentation of a material fact by a licensee in securing the issuance or renewal of a license;

(5) Engaging or aiding and abetting an individual to engage in the practice of pharmacy without a license falsely using the title of "pharmacist" or "pharmacy intern," or falsely using the term "pharmacy" in any manner;

(6) Failing to pay the costs assessed in a disciplinary hearing pursuant to subsection (c) of Code Section 26-4-28;

(7) Becoming unfit or incompetent to practice pharmacy by reason of:

(A) Intemperance in the use of alcoholic beverages, narcotics, or habit-forming drugs or stimulants; or

(B) Any abnormal physical or mental condition which threatens the safety of persons to whom such person may compound or dispense prescriptions, drugs, or devices or for whom he or she might manufacture, prepare, or package or supervise the manufacturing, preparation, or packaging of prescriptions, drugs, or devices;

(8) Being adjudicated to be mentally ill or insane;

(9) Violating any rules and regulations promulgated by the board;

(10) Promoting to the public in any manner a drug which may be dispensed only pursuant to prescription;

(11) Regularly employing the mails or other common carriers to sell, distribute, and deliver a drug which requires a prescription directly to a patient; however, this provision shall not prohibit the use of the mails or other common carriers to sell, distribute, and deliver a prescription drug directly to an institution; (12) Unless otherwise authorized by law, dispensing or causing to be dispensed a different drug or brand of drug in place of the drug or brand of drug ordered or prescribed without the prior authorization of the practitioner ordering or prescribing the same;

(13) Violating or attempting to violate a statute, law, any lawfully promulgated rule or regulation of this state, any other state, the board, the United States, or any other lawful authority without regard to whether the violation is criminally punishable, which statute, law, rule, or regulation relates to or in part regulates the practice of pharmacy, when the licensee or applicant knows or should know that such action is violative of such statute, law, or rule; or violating either a public or confidential lawful order of the board previously entered by the board in a disciplinary hearing, consent decree, or license reinstatement; or

(14) Having his or her license to practice pharmacy revoked, suspended, or annulled by any lawful licensing authority of this or any other state, having disciplinary action taken against him or her by any lawful licensing authority of this or any other state, or being denied a license by any lawful licensing authority of this or any other state.

(b) The board shall have the power to suspend or revoke the license of the pharmacist in charge when a complete and accurate record of all controlled substances on hand, received, manufactured, sold, dispensed, or otherwise disposed of has not been kept by the pharmacy in conformance with the record-keeping and inventory requirements of federal law and the rules of the board.

(c) Any person whose license to practice pharmacy in this state has been suspended, revoked, or restricted pursuant to this chapter, whether voluntarily or by action of the board, shall have the right, at reasonable intervals, to petition the board for reinstatement of such license pursuant to rules and regulations promulgated by the board. Such petition shall be made in writing and in the form prescribed by the board. The board may, in its discretion, grant or deny such petition, or it may modify its original finding to reflect any circumstances which have changed sufficiently to warrant such modifications.

(d) Nothing in this Code section shall be construed as barring criminal prosecutions for violations of this chapter.

(e) All final decisions by the board shall be subject to judicial review pursuant to Chapter 13 of Title 50, the "Georgia Administrative Procedure Act."

(f) Any individual or entity whose license to practice pharmacy is revoked, suspended, or not renewed shall return his or her license to the offices of the board within ten days after receipt of notice of such action.

(g) For purposes of this Code section, a conviction shall include a finding or verdict of guilty, a plea of guilty, or a plea of nolo contendere in a criminal proceeding, regardless of whether the adjudication of guilt or sentence is withheld or not entered thereon. (h) Nothing in this Code section shall be construed as barring or prohibiting pharmacists from providing or distributing health or drug product information or materials to patients which are intended to improve the health care of patients.

(i) The board shall have the power to suspend any license issued under Article 3 of this chapter when such holder is not in compliance with a court order for child support as provided in Code Section 19-6-28.1 or 19-11-9.3. The board shall also have the power to deny the application for issuance or renewal of a license under Article 3 of this chapter when such applicant is not in compliance with a court order for child support as provided in either of such Code sections. The hearings and appeals procedures provided for in such Code sections shall be the only such procedures required to suspend or deny any license issued under Article 3 of this chapter.

(j) Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit any person from assisting any duly licensed pharmacist or practitioner in the measuring of quantities of medication and the typing of labels therefor, but excluding the dispensing, compounding, or mixing of drugs, provided that such duly licensed pharmacist or practitioner shall be physically present in the dispensing area and actually observing the actions of such person in doing such measuring and typing, and provided, further, that no prescription shall be given to the person requesting the same unless the contents and the label thereof shall have been verified by a licensed pharmacist or practitioner.

(k) The board shall have the power to suspend any license issued under Article 3 of this chapter when such holder is a borrower in default who is not in satisfactory repayment status as provided in Code Section 20-3-295. The board shall also have the power to deny the application for issuance or renewal of a license under Article 3 of this chapter when such applicant is a borrower in default who is not in satisfactory repayment status as provided in Code Section 20-3-295. The hearings and appeals procedures provided for in Code Section 20-3-295 shall be the only such procedures required to suspend or deny any license issued under Article 3 of this chapter.